As darkness fell, the heavy rain blurred the view, making it difficult to see clearly.
Jiraiya returned to the Land of Rain to continue teaching his three disciples. Meanwhile, Meikyō and Aburame Nami found Inuzuka Ryo and Nami Minato Namikaze at the border outpost established by Konoha.
They planned to rest here for the night before returning to the village.
Coincidentally, this base was the same one where Meikyō and his two companions, along with Shirakumo Tokinobu and Inuzuka Gaku, had been stationed.
"Speaking of which, when we were here, there were more than a hundred people. I never imagined that in the peacetime after the war, there would be less than twenty people left in this entire stronghold."
Returning to the familiar place, Inuzuka Ryo looked at the familiar scenery around him, and memories of the past welled up in his mind.
Minato Namikaze frowned slightly.
Logically speaking, even in peacetime, the garrison here should not be so weak.
"Even in peacetime, we have a garrison of nearly thirty people here."
A Konoha Ninja with a thick mustache and dark skin sat down next to Minato Namikaze and took out a lighter and a box of cigars from the small pocket of his green vest.
This is the third-in-command of the ninjas stationed at this base, Special Jonin Ashina Tsuchida, who is about thirty years old.
After taking a comfortable puff, the ninja looked at Minato Namikaze Meikyō, and the others.
All of them said they did not have the habit of smoking and waved their hands repeatedly.
"Alright."
The Konoha Ninja put the cigarette back into his small pocket.
He actually wanted to cultivate a relationship with these young ninjas who seemed to have some influence, hoping to get himself transferred back to the village.
During wartime, those who held certain positions in such border areas were usually well-connected and had a safe environment. They could also earn some merit if nothing unexpected happened. Although they didn't earn as much as ninjas fighting on the front lines, at least they were alive to use those merits.
However, in peacetime, no one wants to take such a garrison mission. The conditions at the border are definitely not comparable to those in Konoha. Moreover, staying in Konoha not only provides better living conditions, but also makes it easier to complete missions, earn money, and improve merit.
However, border areas are still very important, and the ninjas stationed there must be quite capable.
Only commoners Ashina Tsuchida, whose strength is neither high nor low, whose age and experience are neither high nor low, whose strength is not high enough to Jonin but is still decent, and who have no background, would be assigned to such a place.
"There are two main reasons why there are so few garrison ninjas here. One is that some time ago, the village's Jonin, Bhiruho, defected and fled towards the Land of Earth after passing through here. He finally had a chance to earn some credit, so our team leader Jonin went to help the village's team that was on a mission to hunt down the Rogue Ninja. However, two days ago, the people in the capital of the Land of Tea, a pitifully small country between the Land of Rain Land of Wind, were all slaughtered overnight. As a result, another Special Jonin who is the second-in-command led a group of people there."
Ashina Tsuchida sighed helplessly.
"So now, only I, the third-in-command, am left here."
For these ninjas who are stationed on the border for several months or even a year and a half, it is normal for them to find other jobs that can earn them money and merit. Even if the higher-ups in Konoha knew about it, they would just turn a blind eye.
"The people of a small country's capital were slaughtered overnight... Who was responsible for this?"
Minato Namikaze was quite curious about what Ashina Tsuchida had said.
"I don't know about that, but none of those Rogue Ninja in the capital of the Land of Tea left behind any corpses. They all disappeared without a trace. Some people speculate that they might want the ninjas' bodies to research some evil Ninjutsu or something, but who knows the specifics?"
Ashina Tsuchida oblivious to everything else.
Such things only happen in small countries. In a large country with a Kage Level ninja, few ninjas would dare to provoke a super ninja village.
The only rivals among the Five Great Ninja Villages are Hanzo other. Even Amegakure like Hanzo, cannot stand on equal footing with them.
"Alright, I reckon your rooms are all ready by now, so I'll go take care of my own business."
"Thank you for your help, Namiya-senpai."
The night passed in the blink of an eye, and before dawn the Tenten, the four-person team set off again. After resting for another night in a town in the Land of Fire, they arrived in Konoha before sunset on the third day.
"Third Hokage-sama, Thunder God Blade."
Meikyō took the Thunder God Blade from Inuzuka Ryo and handed it to the Third Hokage.
"Um."
The Third Hokage put down his pipe, took the Thunder God Blade, and then took the mission reports written by Meikyō and Minato respectively. His eyes narrowed involuntarily.
Meikyō described his fight with Hanzo in a very mild way, only saying that he met Hanzo's requirement to withstand Hanzo his blows head-on, successfully gained Hanzo's approval, eliminated Aoi Rokushō, and brought back the Thunder God Blade.
There are many things about the battle with Xuanyuan Group that cannot be hidden, because after everyone learned about it, they could guess that Meikyō had forced Xuanyuan Group to Fudō a suicidal method.
In his report, Meikyō could only omit the fact that he used the Mangekyo Dojutsu and try to portray the Xuanyuan Group as weak as possible.
As an Uchiha, if you are really too strong, even with Tsunade and Kato Dan protecting you, there is a high probability that the Third Hokage would tacitly allow Danzo of you.
Even so, it was enough to surprise Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He originally estimated that Meikyō's strength was similar to Danzo's.
He is stronger than a regular Jonin, comparable to many veteran Jonin who have been promoted to Jonin for many years, but he is still a little short of Elite Jonin.
Although Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't entirely sure of the true strength of this group of Xuanyuan Group, the fact that they could make such a name for themselves in the Underworld, and that Meikyō could push them to the brink of despair, meant they must have combat power at Elite Jonin.
[He's only fourteen, and he can already perfectly unleash the power of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Has he reached this level...? I wonder if this kid will awaken those eyes like Madara.]
Hiruzen Sarutobi silently observed and pondered.
An Uchiha has awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan for many years, if he trains the use of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan to a high enough level, becomes proficient in the Uchiha Clan's Fire Release Ninjutsu, and cultivates another type of Chakra to a high enough level to make up for his other weaknesses, can already reach the level of Elite Jonin.